WIEN WILL OUR BLIND EYES BE OPENED.

Auckland Star, Volume XIII, Issue 3644, 15 April 1882, Page 4

WIEN WILL OUR BLIND EYES BE OPENED.

(To the Editor),

Pin,- f'-n " tiidob's" correspondent of the 27th Jann v. is soniu kooil comuioo-senßa remark* on tL / irite Sohools tn Melbourne, whiohare Well »'■ i by of consideration In all other olaoea whoro U.<-vi groat follies have been established. Caotlng Mr Holland (one of the inspectors), anu letting in various daylights on the"a6eurd ooallllhiOßH Hod Btlll more absurd nbueea of tho taoalled publlo inßtrnotlon," he tarn-'1 We are rapidly teaching oar people to look to the fc tata tor everything . . . till we havu come to the point of not being «reatlv shocked when w» Jnd—ttfl we have found more than once—wealthy and'prosperous eons allowing their parents to b» Inmates of public charitable iostltutionb', . ." Farther quoting Mr Holland's reports, he than goes on to say—"' a very extravagantly expensive state sham 1b here described, X over there* was one; and possibly as mischievous its it is expensive; that it must sooner or later break Sown under ita own weight seems InßVitabto. , i . That the e/Btotu is VJhatiß culled'popular' Is inteliiKible enough; most people are willing to get a kooii thing for nothing, and instruction at dmteoost seems to them tobeuot for for nothing. Pat the class wbfoh mainly gats the benefit of ihia quasi-boon is the o.«8B between tho wealth 7 eni tho very poor. Our well-to do classes |do not generally , usi tho state schools, and the nutter ohihren can farely be not into them. Ihe decently clothed child of the prosperous meohanio or tradesman is a little aristocrat In contrast With the poor llttlo ragged and bare-footed bipefi, cf which specimens of humanity we have swarms about the streets; sometimes BelllDK newßpapapera and Bometlmes not bo harmlessly employed. But they are seldom in a school, as tcey ore sharp enough—the poor little oreotures-to dsteot In their vague way that they are despised by those whose Bnpeiiotity consists merely in clothes. Nevertholess.all claßßeß—tnoso not uainu aa well aa those uaing them-are taxed— one way or another—for their support, andtbe scholars who aro turned out from thens Bohools —like buttons from a manufactory—feea (to dittistroaß oferflowlng the ranks of those' WhoShrink from any of the roußhar manly modes of obtaining a livelihood. Honce, an advertiev ffient lor a clerk, whose Balary would not amonct to half the wage* of a competent carpentef or mason, ia answered sometimes \>r hundreds who have been carefully educated by the State into inability to get their own living iii that station of lifo into which it has pleased God to call thorn. A Hoyal Commission hau iuat been appointed to inquire into the working of the common sohool system, and if they flrnjlj do their duty, their report may go far to modify tho prevailing view as to tho mtrltsof tWs muoh-vauntod Aot." Here.ther, Sir, by plain hißtorlcal facts, we have at least the proof that the much uumpated-up "free BOhopls for tho poor * aro truly and only a Bham, a cheat, a lie, and a robbery, as was clearly seen in 1873 by many (and might bavo been foreseen by all), as well aa by Lookbbon. N.B. - ia I aald ia 1873, there cannot rlßhtoously be any btato Bohoo'.except for tha simple elements, compulsory to all tho schoolless and quita free of charge. Those who would like w see tne arguments used 10 years aeo and how true those prophecies havo bsen fulfilled, are Informed that ft few copies of "Blind Eyes" are obtainable at the STAit Office. ,